Opening PRayer for January 8, 2017 -- John 1:35-51

Source of Life, we come to celebrate your presence.

Here we tell the stories, here we pray, here we share the feast.

As we listen for your voice, as we share the meal of faith, as we seek to share your love,

move within and among us, breathe your transforming Spirit into our souls.

And when our worship draws to a close,

send us out to share the life and love you have given us with the world around us.

We pray in the name of Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, who invites us to come and see, Amen

Call TO Worship for Epihany 2018

May the Peace of Christ be with you

And also with you.

We gather in this season of Epiphany to celebrate how God is made known in the world.

We pay attention to what Jesus says and does, looking to see God active in the world.

God calls us to share the stories of faith with each other, so that we would see where God is.

LINE RELATED TO THE READING FOR THE WEEK

Open to God’s presence in our midst, we greet each other with words and signs of Peace.

Christ Candle for Epiphany 2018

In the Beginning was the Word...in the Word was life and the life was light to all.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can not overcome it

As the true Light, the Light of God, shines in our hearts we center ourselves for worship

A Christmas Prayer (2017)

God of Christmas, we gather together and we sing of hope.

But the world around us challenges our hope, the world around us leads us to despair.

Our news media seems to delight in telling us all the things that are going badly in the world.

The more cynical among us suggest that at best things will be as they always have been.

Bring us hope this Christmas.

Open our eyes to see the possibilities that surround us,

open our ears to hear the Good News in the stories that don’t get told,

open our minds to understand that the wold can indeed be changed,

open our mouths to share our hope for the future with all those we meet.

God made known in a baby, we pray for hope.

God of Christmas, we gather together and we sing of peace,

Peace seems such a nice idea, but far from reality.

Mass shootings, nuclear tests, political rhetoric, and more remind us of peace by its absence.

And yet we believe in the angel promise...

we long for the vision cast by Isaiah

where the wolf will lie down with the lamb and they shall not hurt or destroy on all the holy mountain...

This Christmas, we pray, move in our hearts and in the world around us;

make peace based in justice a reality in our lives.

Bring on the Reign of peace, peace founded on all having what they need for abundant live rather than on “might makes right”,

so that next time we gather to celebrate Christmas the world is a more peaceful place.

God made known in a baby, we pray for peace.

God of Christmas, we gather together and we sing of love,

Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love divine;

Love was born at Christmas, Star and angels gave the sign.

In the stories of faith you command us to live as people of love:

loving God, loving our neighbour, loving ourselves.

Sometimes we act out of fear instead of love,

sometimes our love is mis-aimed and narrowed.

Love shall be our token, Love be yours and love be mine,

Love to God and all men, Love for plea and gift and sign.

As we hear again the story of the birth of Love incarnate,

may our actions be loving towards all we meet, tonight and all year round.

God made known in a baby, we pray for love.

God of Christmas, we gather together and we sing of joy,

Or at least we want to, or we think we are supposed to.

For some of us joy comes easy this Christmas season.

For others joy is difficult, or distant, or just plain absent.

We give thanks that you enter our lives both in the times of joy,

and in the times of sorrow or anxiety or fear.

In this season we pray not for happiness

but for the deep joy that comes from trusting that we are not alone.

We seek the joy that comes with the assurance that you support and strengthen us every day.

God made known in a baby, we pray for joy.

God of Christmas, we gather together and we sing of birth,

We have heard the story again,

we have joined the shepherds in their fear, their wonder, and their joy.

Once again Emmanuel, God-With-Us lies sleeping in the manger.

Birth changes us, all of us.

As our eyes of faith gaze on the manger you look back at us.

As we look at the babe sleeping there, ask us about how we will help him grow,

and how he will challenge us and make us grow.

May the birth of Christ this year move us to embrace transformation.

May we be changed this Christmas as we live into being citizens of the Kingdom of God,

the Kingdom which is launched by the coming of Christ.

God of Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Christ and we join in the adoration of shepherds.

In response to the Good News of the birth of The Child we sing with the angels:

“Glory to God in the Highest”

Amen.

Christmas Eve Reflection (or at least a draft)

(This reflection uses lyrics from When a Child is born and A Spaceman Came Traveling)

A Child is Born

2017 Christmas Eve Reflection

A ray of hope flickers in the sky

A shiny star lights up way up high

All across the land dawns a brand new morn

This comes to pass when a child is born

Carl Sandburg once said: “A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on...A baby, whether it does anything to you, represents life.” From that I understand that the birth of a child is a cause for hope.

We could use a solid dose of hope in the world these days. We are, as have been many other people over the centuries since Isaiah first uttered the words, the people walk in darkness, the people who live in a time of deep darkness. This past year the news has been full of stories about heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula, about the #MeToo movement, about mass shootings in churches and at country music festivals, about First Nations issues across Canada. While things are changing, here in Alberta we are still living with the results of an oil price crash. The world is full of darkness.

Can we see the ray of hope flickering in the sky? Can we see the dawn coming? Can we see the great light that Isaiah promises to those who live and walk in deep darkness?

It is Christmas, and a child is born. And the birth of a child means life. And the birth of a child means hope. The birth of this child means Good News, which shall be for all people. Hope comes to pass, when a child is born.

A silent wish sails the seven seas

The winds of change whisper in the trees

And the walls of doubt crumble, tossed and torn

This comes to pass when a child is born

Every child that is born has the potential to change the world. Every child that is born does change the world for some number of people. Birth means change. Just ask any parent.

Several years ago the United Church issued an ad campaign. This was one of the magazine ads. Probably my favourite one. [put ad on screen] If you can’t read the hospital bracelet it reads “WARNING: some re-assembly of priorities and beliefs may be required”. Birth means change.

Over the centuries many a young woman who found herself pregnant at the wrong time has gone off to visit family, often as an excuse to get out of town for a while. Before Jesus was born Mary did just that. She went to visit her older cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. Luke tells us that during that visit Mary proclaimed that the child she was carrying would turn the world upside down. He would bring down the powerful and raise up the lowly. He would fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away.

Some re-assembly of priorities and beliefs may be required.

Tonight we tell the story of a child being born. And since birth brings change, since every child born has the potential to change the world tonight we pen ourselves to the possibility of change. In that change the walls of the world as we know them may be tossed and torn, they may crumble to reveal some new structure. This comes to pass, when a child is born.

A rosy hue settles all around

You've got the feel you're on solid ground

For a spell or two, no-one seems forlorn

This comes to pass when a child is born

WE gather in the glow of starlight and the triumphant chords of angel song. WE know that things are changing. And yet there is confidence. There is the feeling that we are on a firm foundation. Because the birth we celebrate this night is the Word made Flesh, Emmanuel, God-with-Us. We hear the angel declare “peace on earth goodwill to all” and even for a brief moment we believe it might be true.

Decades ago Chris DeBurgh released a song called “A Spaceman Came Traveling”. It really is a Christmas song, though an odd sort of Christmas song. It talks of a birth and a visitor from beyond this world. And the visitor says: “I bring a message for mankind to hear," And suddenly the sweetest music filled the air... And it went La La...Peace and goodwill to all men, and love for the child...”

De Burgh goes on to say:

This lovely music went trembling through the ground,

And many were wakened on hearing that sound,

And travellers on the road, the village they found,

By the light of that ship in the sky, which shone all round...

Luke tells us that when the shepherds heard the angel message they went to see the baby that they had been told about. Then they went around town telling everybody these wonderful tidings of Good News, which shall be for all people. As he tells the rest of the story over 2 books Luke will show us how the peace and goodwill pronounced on Christmas night will travel around Galilee and Judea and then from Jerusalem to the rest of the Roman empire. When we embrace the promise God offers in a baby in a manger then there is no reason for anyone to be forlorn.

Peace and good will to all. This come to pass when a Child is born.

From a historical perspective the birth of Jesus of Nazareth happened a long time ago in a land far away... Angel song and adoring shepherds make for a nice story. But we don’t live in the story. We live in the present in a land close at hand.

What about this year. What about this year with our darkness? Where is the birth for this year? Well, on of my favourite Advent hymns says: “Tomorrow Christ is coming as yesterday he came. A child is born this moment we do not know his name...Our God becomes incarnate in every human birth, created in God’s image we must make peace on earth, God will fulfill Love’s purpose”

WE celebrate Christmas because we believe that the child in the manger, Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, is still with us today. We celebrate Christ’s birth because we know that God is still active in the world. And so we have hope. And so we have a challenge.

For unto us a child is born. For unto us a son is given (somehow whenever I read those words a part of my brain starts playing the chorus from Handel’s Messiah). And the child will change the world. Tonight somewhere a child is being born.

In the middle of the song When a Child is born a speaking voice says:

the world is waiting,

Waiting for one child

Black, white, yellow, no-one knows

But a child that will grow up and turn tears to laughter,

Hate to love, war to peace and everyone to everyone's neighbour

And misery and suffering will be words to be forgotten, forever

In Chris De Burgh’s song the traveler leaves. But as he does that he gives hope:

This song will begin once again, to a baby's cry..."

And it goes La La... Peace and goodwill to all men, and

Love for the child...

Oh the whole world is waiting, waiting to hear the song again,

There are thousands standing on the edge of the world,

And a star is moving somewhere, the time is nearly here,

This song will begin once again, to a baby's cry...

Each Christmas we await, we listen for the song to begin again. Each Christmas the promise of peace and goodwill is made again. Each Christmas, each time we hear the announcement that the Messiah is born, the full Kingdom of God comes closer.

Every child that is born can change the world. Every one of us was once that child that was born, with the chance to help change the world. This Christmas I challenge all of us to work for peace, to change the world, to join in the song, for the sake of the child that is born tonight, and tomorrow, and next month and...

It's all a dream, an illusion now

It must come true, sometime soon somehow

All across the land, dawns a brand new morn

This comes to pass when a child is born

This comes to pass, because The Child is born. Glory to God in the highest. And on Earth; Peace, Goodwill towards all.

For November 26, 2017 -- REign of Christ, Using Isaiah 9:2-7

OPENING PRAYER

God, in the beginning you said “Let there be light!”

And there was light.

As time goes by it seems that darkness keeps trying to win.

But your light shines in the darkness and the darkness can not overcome it.

As we gather here to worship, to celebrate the Love which binds us together as your family,

shine in our lives, enlighten our hearts, brighten our world.

We pray in the name of Jesus, who called himself the light of the world, who challenged us to share the light with others, and who taught us to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God, you call us to live as people of the Light.

But the shadows grow long and we feel darkness overtaking us.

You call us to be people of hope.

But we listen to the latest news and despair seems so much more realistic.

You call us to pass the light on to from one neighbour to another.

But sometimes in the shadows it is difficult to see if one is a neighbour or an enemy.

God of Grace, God of Hope, God of light,

help us overcome our fear, remind us that the darkness can not overcome your light.

...time of silent prayer...

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a brilliant light; on those who dwelt in a land of gloom light has dawned.” Dawn is breaking. In its light God calls us to be renewed, to live as people of the Light.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

Dawn is breaking, the darkness fades.

The Light is coming into the world.

Though we may walk in darkness, real or symbolic.

The Light is coming into the world.

We go out to celebrate that God’s Kingdom, the Reign of Peace and Hope, is coming.

We go out to share the Light.

We go with God, who was in the beginning, who is in the present, who will be in the future.

The Light that no darkness can overcome. Amen.

For October 22, 2017 -- the Call of Samuel

CALL TO WORSHIP

In the hustle and bustle of life we hear a whisper.

Urging us forward, challenging how we see the world.

In response to the whisper we gather with the community of faith.

Here we say “Speak God, your children are listening”

God has called us together

Here we seek to understand how God would have us live.

As we gather for worship we turn to the members of our faith family and greet each other with words and signs of Christ’s Peace.

OPENING PRAYER

Loving God, we open our hearts and souls to you.

In this time of worship whisper in our ears,

fill us with a Word to share with each other

and give us the courage to share that Word.

Then, we pray, lead us back into the world,

to share the promise of love, to share the vision of the Kingdom

We pray in the name of Jesus, the Word made flesh, who taught his friends to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God we grow comfortable, and we seek rest.

But you continue to whisper in our ears.

We hear the whisper but we fail to understand what it is,

or we fail to help others know what they hear.

Then we wake up, we realize the truth and we listen.

But sometimes the words are hard, and we would rather pretend we did not hear them.

God of grace, God of wisdom,

open our ears to hear hard truths.

God of grace, God of wisdom, God who calls us to action,

give us the courage to share hard truths with the world around us.

God of grace, God who knows us deeply,

touch our hearts, calm our fears,

hear our confession for those times we choose not to listen and for those times we choose not to respond.

...time of silent prayer...

God is gracious and forgiving. God continues to call us until we respond. When we slip or miss the mark God calls us to learn and to try again. We are forgiven, and in God’s grace we are called forward.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

Our time of worship draws to a close

and we prepare to go back to our living and working and serving.

As you go, keep your ears open for the whisper,

where God’s voice intersects our daily life.

And when you hear it,

we commit ourselves to listen and to respond.

Go with God, who has created and is creating; with Jesus, the Word made flesh, who redeems and makes new; and with the Spirit who sustains and strengthens us

Always, wherever we go.

Christ Candle for Fall 2017

The Psalmist writes: “Thy word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path”

As this flame shines in our gathering, so may God’s Word of hope and love shine in our hearts.

Guided by God's Light, we center ourselves for worship.

FOr September 17, 2017 -- To Go with JAcob's Dream

OPENING PRAYER

God we gather for worship,

here we sing and pray and listen, we might even dream.

God we gather seeking your comforting presence,

to remind us that we are not alone, to share a blessing.

God we gather to be changed,

to be moved from lives of fear to lives of love.

God we gather to be sent back out,

to share the blessings of life, to remind folks that you are with them, to declare “surely the Lord is in this place”.

We offer these prayers, we offer ourselves, in the name of Jesus, who teaches us to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God of grace, like Jacob we sometimes use trickery and deception for personal gain,

assuming that we need to look out for ourselves first.

God of grace, like Rebekah we sometimes plot against others to support a favoured one,

seeing our own agenda, our own hope, as the best way.

God of grace, like Esau we are sometimes overcome by our anger and plot revenge,

because life is unfair and we feel that we have lost something precious.

God of grace, like Jacob we sometimes find ourselves bound by rules that do not allow us to correct the wrongs done to others,

and so withhold blessings that should be shared widely, increasing anger and hurt.

God of grace, we acknowledge our shortcomings and open our hearts and souls to your grace

even as we pledge to live differently, to put aside deception and anger, to work for the advancement of all.

God of grace, in and through your grace and mercy,

forgive us, empower us, move us forward as your beloved children, each of us with our own blessing. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

Like Jacob, we are people on a journey,

sometimes fleeing from danger, sometimes heading home.

As we journey, we meet other travellers.

Sharing with them the words of comfort we have gained along the path.

And when we find shelter,

we offer a safe place to those who continue to journey.

Journey with God, who guides us, who supports us, who comforts us, who blesses us

Wherever we go. Thanks and praise. Amen.

Litany of Hope for July 2, 2017 -- #Canada150

we look at where we have come for, we see where we are – the positive and the negative,

and we ask what comes next.

God of our future,

we dream of what yet will be, we dream of who we could become

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

WE dream of abundance,

a country where all our neighbours have what they need for safe, healthy lives,

a place where food, shelter, education, safety and employment are provided to all

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

WE dream about the land,

seeking a time where we learn how to balance ecology and economy

envisioning a nation where we do indeed live in respect with creation.

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

We dream of leadership,

trusting that Canada has a place in your global community

hoping that Canada can be a force for peace and justice

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

We dream of reconciliation and right-relations

for relationships that are rebuilt

for respect between members of the various communities that make up this national

for open and truthful naming of injuries both old and new, and then actively working towards the healing of those injuries

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

We dream of the Kingdom,

even as we know that the Kingdom is larger than our country, we trust that the Kingdom includes our country

we dream of the day when the values of the Kingdom: peacemaking, unconditional love, community, hospitality, generosity, compassion, and passionate justice are embraced as Canadian values

as those who carry the name of Christ, as those who hear Christ’s call for transformation

and looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

God of the past, the present and the future, help us live as people of hope for a better future.

And the people all said AMEN

Litany of Lament for July 2, 2017 -- #Canada150

God of possibilities,

we know that we have not always lived up to the promise that lies within us

as individuals, as communities, as a community of communities, we have injured each other, we have failed to live as people of love

...remembering that we have not always been the nation we could be

we lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.

God who calls us to live with respect in creation

we know that in our hurry to make use of the land we have not always been good stewards

forests have disappeared, fisheries have been depleted

humans take the space that once was shared with many other species, and drive them into far corners

the detritus of our industrial culture has changed the landscape

and we still wonder if we can find the balance between economy and ecology, if we can stop injuring and start repairing the land we love

...remembering that we have not always been the nation we could be

we lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.

God who calls us to love and serve others

we are not always good neighbours

the people who welcomed our predecessors to this land have been mistreated in word and deed

instead of celebrating who they were and are we have tried to turn them into good “proper” people

we have made promises and then broken them, leading some to wonder if the promises were made in good faith

we have invited others to come and enrich the nation and then expected them to be “like us” when they got here, or forced them to leave behind their own cultures and ways so they could “fit in”

we have forgotten that the rule of love is to accept others, we have forgotten that beauty lies in diversity,

at times we have forgotten to love, we have expected to be served more than to serve

...remembering that we have not always been the nation we could be

we lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.

God who challenges us to seek justice and resist evil

we look at the news: local, provincial and national and we lose heart

stories of people cast aside, stories of missing women, stories of justice denied

we challenge the system even while we are all too ready to benefit from the same system, and our resistance loses teeth

we grow complacent, not seeing the very real struggles faced by our neighbours

we begin to wonder if we can make a difference, if the effort is worth the pay off

...remembering that we have not always been the nation we could be

we lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.

God of grace, as we hear the laments of our selves and our neighbours, move us to cry out for justice, push us to help re-build the country into the nation where love and justice are the rule and norm.

And the people all said AMEN

Litany of Gratitude for July 2 2017 -- #Canada150

God made known in creation;

for rocks and trees and skies and seas..your hands the wonders wrought

for sweeping prairie skies and waving grasslands,

for striking mountain peaks and deep valleys,

for lakes and rivers, for forests and tundra

...for all these gifts

God of all to you we raise words of gratitude and praise

God who is present in the new things of life;

for those brave adventurers who struck out to explore a new place

for the people they met along the way who offered wisdom, and guidance and support,

for those who set the wheels in motion so that something new and different could begin, something that would grow from a notion into a nation

...for all these gifts

God of all to you we raise words of gratitude and praise

God of community;

for the people who have challenged us to become a better, more caring community

for those who have helped us learn that we can be a community even while not being the same

for those who have stood up to speak for the members of our communities who were being abused, or oppressed, or simply ignored

for those who have made us better, those who have helped us draw the circle of what it means to be “Canadian” wider

for all our neighbours, near at hand or living many provinces away

...for all these gifts

God of all to you we raise words of gratitude and praise

God who calls us to make use of your gifts;

for lumber shaped from forests to build ships and houses and cities,

for gold and iron and copper and other minerals mined from the rock

for coal and oil and natural gas, giving energy for us and the world,

for the fruit of the earth, the food which sustains and strengthens us

...for all these gifts

God of all to you we raise words of gratitude and praise

Gift Giving God, we thank and praise you for the wonders of your love we see around us.

And the people all said AMEN

For June 25, 2017 -- Working with Ruth 2

CALL TO WORSHIP

The God who casts the seed,

is the God who gives the growth.

The God who gathers the grain,

gathers God’s people together.

We are part of God’s family,

and we have gathered for worship.

Come! Sing, pray, listen, reflect.

We celebrate God’s presence among us.

As we gather for worship, we greet our brothers and sisters with words and signs of Christ’s peace...

OPENING PRAYER

God of the harvest, God of abundance,

even the gleanings of your love fill us to overflowing.

God who has called us together today,

move within and among us, allow us to know oyour presence and hear your voice.

God who calls us to be your people, God who challenges us to care for each other,

in our time together reawaken in us the desire to serve, to share your love as we share the gleanings of our lives.

We pray as those who bear the name of Christ, who pledge to follow his path, and who pray as he taught his friends...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien, You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien (Lev 23:22. Lev 19:10)

God we hear your command to provide for those who are vulnerable among us.

When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.” (Ruth 2:15-16)

God we hear how Boaz went above and beyond what was commanded.

God of grace, there are days,

times when we find ourselves standing in emptiness, wondering what we can find to sustain our souls

God, when we face the times of scarcity,

remind us to look, that we could glean the grace that overflows wherever you are found.

God, when our cups are full,

remind us to be like Boaz, passing the abundance to those who are struggling.

And in all these things,

May we find and share the grace that passes all understanding. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

We have gathered. We have sung, prayed, listened, reflected..

Now we go out to live and serve.

God calls us to search the world for the gleanings of grace that have been left for us to find.

God calls us to ensure that we share from our abundance so that others can glean together a living.

We are the gleaners, we are the harvesters, the givers and the receivers.

Thanks be to God, from whom all blessings flow.

Go with God who creates, redeems, and sanctifies.

Amen.